deal with

The faint rumble of a ship's engine drifted from afar, and beams of searchlight began to systematically sweep across the nearby sea and islands! Kruger's eyes snapped open, his green pupils instantly regaining their sharpness and alertness, a fierce glint in them: "Looks like... Makarov's cleaners have arrived. Quite efficient." He tried to move, but groaned in pain. "Our rest time is over, Nurse. Now, are we trying to find a way to survive this hellhole together, or are we just waiting to die?"

Elaine quickly picked up the pistol from the ground, looking in the direction from which the sound and light were coming, her heart pounding. She glanced again at Kruger, who was badly wounded but whose eyes held a dangerous, trapped look. Under the common, imminent threat of survival, a highly unstable, suspicious, yet temporarily unavoidable "alliance" was forced into existence.

The beams of searchlight, like the tentacles of death, swept across the rugged coastline of Eagle Rock in the pre-dawn darkness. The roar of ship engines and the muffled shouts of armed men grew louder as they approached; clearly, Makarov's sweeping squad was landing and conducting a thorough search.

“At least ten men, divided into three groups, advancing in a fan shape.” Kruger endured the excruciating pain from the scars on his abdomen and face, peering through the gaps in the rocks. His green eyes, slightly dimmed from blood loss, still gleamed with a cold, wary light in the darkness. “Standard sweeping formation. We’re stuck on the beach.”

Elaine's heart pounded in her chest, jolting against her ribs. But the extreme fear acted like a bucket of ice water, extinguishing her panic and making her mind unusually clear. She quickly scanned her surroundings—to her left were steep, slippery, almost vertical black volcanic rock cliffs; to her right was a deep, unfathomable rainforest entwined with vines; behind her lay the jagged, rocky area where they were hiding, and the surging, inky sea.

“We can’t go into the rainforest. Your injuries can’t withstand strenuous activity, and the marks will be too obvious. The cliffs are too steep; we can’t climb them quickly, or we’ll become easy targets.” Elaine lowered her voice, speaking quickly and clearly, her gaze finally settling on the surging waves. “The only way out is the sea. We’ll use the tides and this labyrinth of reefs to get around to the other side of the island and look for an opportunity. Their search is focused on the land.”

Kruger raised an eyebrow and glanced at her, a hint of surprise flashing across his pale face, as if he hadn't expected this "technician" to have such decisive tactical thinking in a life-or-death situation.

"How good are you at swimming?" he asked in a hoarse voice, his breath unsteady from the pain.

“Sufficient to protect myself.” Elaine quickly checked the waterproof straps on her backpack, her tone confident.

"Let's go!" Kruger didn't waste any words. He tried to stand up, but the gunshot wound in his abdomen made him stumble and almost fall.

Elaine immediately stepped forward and, without hesitation, used her relatively thin shoulder to support his uninjured left side of his torso, sharing his weight.

Kruger's taut muscles stiffened for a moment, but given the circumstances, he didn't refuse the support, only letting out a suppressed groan.

Under the cover of night, using the shadows of the rocks and the roar of the waves as cover, the two silently slipped into the icy, bone-chilling sea. The seawater seeped into his wounds, feeling like countless steel needles piercing them; Kruger's forehead instantly broke out in a cold sweat, and his teeth clenched so tightly they cracked. Elaine's lips were also turning purple from the cold, but she gripped the backpack strap tightly, her other hand firmly supporting Kruger, guiding him as he struggled through the jagged rocks.

The search team's lights and footsteps echoed not far from where they had just been hiding. Elaine held her breath and abruptly pulled Kruger into an underwater depression beneath a massive reef. The two huddled close to the cold, rough rock, the beams of their searchlights almost brushing against their scalps, and they could even hear the sound of each other's boots on the gravel and their indistinct conversation.

"The blood trail ends here!"

“It might have been swept away by the waves, let’s check the edge of the woods over there!” Hearing the footsteps seem to be heading towards the rainforest, Elaine cautiously poked her head out. She noticed several pieces of debris and broken planks from the “Sea Fox” floating on the sea. A daring idea flashed through her mind.

She gestured for Kruger to remain quiet and hidden, then deftly swam to the nearest, larger plank still attached to half of the broken mast. She dragged the plank back, quickly tearing off some seaweed that had been floating with the waves, crudely disguising it as natural debris.

Then, she helped the nearly exhausted Kruger lie face down on the plank, keeping him as still as possible to minimize the splashing caused by his movements. She herself took a deep breath, submerged in the water, leaving only her mouth and nose above the surface to breathe, and pushed against the plank with one hand, using the undercurrent flowing out to sea during the low tide to slowly drift towards the steeper cliff face to the side and rear of the island.

Kruger lay sprawled on the cold wooden plank, feeling the waves tossing him about. Waves of excruciating pain from his wounds made his consciousness somewhat blurred. But his eyes remained fixed on the small yet resilient figure in the water. He watched how she maintained her direction amidst the surging waves, how she skillfully used the shadows of every reef. Her calm and tenacious demeanor was a far cry from his previous stereotypes of her as a "technician" and "Keegan's burden."

After drifting for an unknown amount of time, they successfully circled around to the other side of the island. Here, cliffs rose high, and it was a remote place. Elaine discovered the entrance to a tidal cave, partially obscured by dense vines. She carefully explored the area, and only after confirming it was safe did she forcefully push Kruger and the plank inside.

The cave was narrow and damp, filled with the salty smell of seawater and the musty smell of rocks. But most importantly, it provided temporary shelter. Having just settled in, Elaine, ignoring her soaked and cold body, immediately opened her waterproof backpack and retrieved the core data hard drive and the water-damaged encrypted communicator.

She skillfully disassembled the outer casing and carefully cleaned the water stains and salt deposits inside with a precision screwdriver and compressed air canister from her tool bag, her expression focused.

Kruger leaned against the cold, rough rock wall, each breath pulling at the wound in his abdomen, the scar on his brow throbbing with pain. He stared intently at Elaine's steady, rapid hands operating the precision tools. From calmly analyzing the situation and choosing the sea route, to using driftwood for camouflage, to now remaining unfazed in the face of a pile of waterlogged precision components… the resilience, resourcefulness, and professional skills this woman displayed far surpassed those of an ordinary technical expert, even exceeding those of many professional soldiers he had ever encountered.

"Is there any hope for this pile of scrap metal?" he asked breathlessly, his voice hoarse with pain, but the usual sarcasm in his tone remained, as if it could make him feel a little better.

Without looking up, Elaine's entire focus was on her fingertips: "Try it. Alternative power is needed to activate the chip detection." She removed a core circuit board from the communicator, then pulled a spare handheld GPS from the side pocket of her backpack, deftly removed its battery, and carefully connected it with a thin jumper cable. Her movements were fluid and without hesitation.

Kruger silently watched her professional operation, the only sounds in the cave being the crashing waves and the faint hum of electronic components outside. After a long while, he suddenly twitched his lips, pulling at the scar on his brow bone, causing him to gasp. But then, a low, complex sentence slipped out from between his teeth, more like an answer to his own confusion than a compliment to Elaine: "...Hmph. Now I understand...how you, a...seemingly fragile porcelain doll, managed to carve a crack in that cold, hard rock like Keegan Russ."

His voice was hoarse and low, almost drowned out by the sound of the waves. His tone still carried his signature sarcasm, but upon closer listening, one could discern a rare absence of contempt beneath the sarcasm. Instead, there was an inexplicable sense of realization, and even a tiny bit of respect that he himself was unwilling to admit.

Elaine's fingers, which were connecting the wires, paused almost imperceptibly, the fingertips turning slightly white. She didn't look up or respond, but simply buried herself more intently in her work, as if all her attention was drawn to the tiny circuit board. But the slight redness in her ears betrayed that she was not entirely unmoved.

A few minutes later, one of the indicator lights on the communicator blinked stubbornly and emitted a faint but hopeful "beep".

“There’s a weak basic response!” A glint of light flashed in Elaine’s eyes: “But the power is too low to make an active call. It can only try to receive strong signals on specific frequency bands… We need to wait for the ‘Eagle’s Nest’ to actively scan or encrypt the beacon.”

Elaine successfully activated the communicator's weak response, but was temporarily unable to make a call. Outside the cave, the roar of helicopter rotors grew louder and louder, creating a sense of oppression. Kruger leaned against the rock wall, shivering slightly from blood loss and the cold, his eyes fixed on the cave entrance in the dim light, his ears catching every unusual sound.

The prolonged silence and the looming danger seemed to have lowered his guard. Elaine hugged her knees, trying to conserve her body heat. She spoke softly, her tone not accusatory, but rather a calm, analytical inquiry: "Kruger, you said before that Makarov couldn't pay the balance and wanted to silence you... but the truth is more than that, right? He wanted to kill you not just because of the money, but also because he discovered you were secretly investigating the real cause of Elsa's death. The so-called 'unable to pay the balance' was just an excuse he used to attack you."

Kruger paused almost imperceptibly. He turned his head, his green eyes sweeping sharply over Elaine in the darkness. There was no shock or anger at being exposed; instead, there was weariness, sarcasm, and a barely perceptible hint of approval.

He twitched his lips, pulling at the scar on his brow, and let out a hoarse, cold laugh: "Hmph...you've got a quick head, Nurse." He didn't deny it, his tone carrying an almost resigned mockery, "That's right...that old bastard used the clumsy excuse of 'budget cuts' to lure me to the 'Ark,' his real purpose was to eliminate me, this 'threat.' He thought killing Elsa would solve everything, that I, Kruger, was just a money-grubbing idiot..."

He took a deep breath, a bone-deep hatred and pain surging in the depths of his green eyes. “Elsa and I… met in that hellish abyss, the Ring of Anubis. The hope of the Austrian government, a discarded pawn of the South African National Defence Force… Ha, two tools from opposite ends of the world, serving different masters, yet in that place that turns people into beasts, we became each other’s only proof that we were still ‘human.’” His tone was heavy with sarcasm, yet it couldn’t conceal the deep-seated pain. “But so what?”

His voice suddenly turned cold and hard, carrying a self-destructive resolve. "The first ironclad rule from the 'Ring': no ​​friends, only missions. The 'classmates' you train with today might be stabbing you in the heart tomorrow for their respective masters. We understood this path from the moment we left the 'Ring.' We are weapons, and weapons shouldn't have feelings... to have them is suicide." He pointed to the wounds on his face and abdomen, and said sarcastically, "See, this is the price of being soft-hearted. I knew the rules perfectly well... but I still couldn't help but investigate... and this is the result."

These words made Elaine understand completely. Kruger's hatred for Makarov wasn't just about silencing him, but also because Makarov had destroyed the last remaining human connection between him and Elsa, a connection that couldn't be tolerated by the world. His investigation was a desperate act of rebellion against their fate as "tools."

"So, what exactly is the 'Ring of Anubis'?" Elaine pressed, this was a crucial question she hadn't had time to investigate further.

A complex glint flashed in Kruger's eyes, a mixture of disgust, a barely perceptible sense of awe, and profound weariness. "A... shadow factory that doesn't belong to any country, dedicated to 'polishing' people like us. It doesn't take sides, it only trains the top assassins, spies, and subversives for those who can afford the price. From European and American secret services to African warlords, to South American drug lords... there are 'graduates' from 'The Ring'." He paused, his tone chilling. "They only teach one thing there: how to complete missions efficiently, how to survive by any means necessary. Trust? That's the most luxurious poison."

He coughed violently, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, clearly the emotional agitation had aggravated his internal injuries. He closed his eyes wearily, his voice barely audible, as if his last strength had been used up: "...Don't ask anymore...The more you know, the faster you die. Save your strength...Think about how to survive Makarov's janitors..."